Building-block.



N0. 680,|38. Patented Aug. 6, I90].

A. M. FENNER. BUILDING BLOCK.

(Application filed Apr. 8, 1901.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-8heet l.

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Patented Aug. v6, l90|.

A. M. FENNER. BUILDING BLOCK.

(Application fil d An: 3, 1901 (No Model.)

R m E W l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUGUSTUS M. FENNER, OF LINESVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

BUILDING-BLOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 680,138, dated August 6, 1901.

Application filed April 3,1901.

To 01% whom it may concern/.-

Be it known that I, AUGUSTUS M. FENNER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Linesville, in the county of Crawford and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Building-Blocks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to masonry, and has special reference to an improvement in building-blocks, particularly of the hollow type which are employed in the construction of the walls and other parts of a building.

To this end the invention primarily, contemplates improved means for effecting a firm and compact joint at the meeting ends of adjacent building-blocks.

The principal objection which masons find to the use of hollow blocks for building purposes is that in laying walls with such blocks it is practicably impossible to make good mortar joints, inasmuch as the walls of the building blocks themselves are comparatively thin, and when the ends of blocks in the same course are brought together the mortar will press laterally out of the narrow space between adjoining ends of the blocks and into the blocks, as well as upon the exterior thereof, so that it is practically impossible to hold the mortar at and between the ends of the hollow blocks sufficiently to make a good joint. Also by reason of the difficulty of pro viding good mortar joints at the ends of hollow building-blocks masons have found it diflicult with the expedients ordinarily used to securely fasten door and window frames in the wall.

It is the purpose of the present invention to obviate the above objections by providing simple and thoroughly-practical means for effecting substantial and compact joints at the ends of hollow building-blocks.

With these and other objects in view,which will more readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel construction, combination, and arrangements of parts, hereinafter more fully described, illustrated, and claimed.

The essential features of the invention are necessarily susceptible to considerable modi- Serial No. 54,162. (No model.)

fication without departing from the spirit or scope thereof; but the preferred embodiments of the invention are shown in the accompa nying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a pair of adjacent hollow building-blocks united by a mortar joint, such as provided for by the present invention and showing the external appearance of the joint. Fig. 2 is an elevation showing a section of wall, with a jointblock positioned within an end of one hollow building-block, ready to receive thereover the companion building-block to be united thereto. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a completed mortar joint embodying the preferred form of the invention. Fig. etis a detail in perspective of one form of joint-block equipped with centering. means in the form of rigid projections. Fig. 5 is an elevation showing a section of wall in which a small space is to be closed up by a short buildingblock and two mortar joints, the view illustrating j oint-blocks equipped with a modified form of centering means brought into play after the short building-block is dropped into place. Fig. 6 is a detail.in perspective of the form of jointblock shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a view in perspective, showing the use of a joint-block applied to the side of a door or window frame for use in connection with the terminal building-block laid against such frame. Fig. 8 is a detail sectional view of the joint formed by the mortar and the j oint-block in the arrangement of parts shown in Fig. 7.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in the several figures of the drawings.

In carrying out the present invention it is the purpose to provide means for producing a substantial and compact mortar joint for the ends of hollow building+blocks irrespective of the sizes or shapes thereof and at the same time to provide means whereby substantially the same joint may be produced under the varying conditions incident to building a wall with hollow building-blocks. It is therefore unimportant what particular size or shape of building-blocks is utilized in connection with the invention; but for illustrative purposes there are shown in the drawings building-blocks of the hollow type and of lhe ordinary oblong rectangular formation, said blocks being designated by the numeral 1. Ordinarily in laying a Wall with these blocks the ends thereof are brought together with an interposed film of mortar, which, however, as already explained, is

pressed into as well as exterior to the blocks,.

so that a firm or good mortar joint is quite impossible. To obviate this defect .in the laying of the building-blocks, the present invention contemplates the employment of an interioijoint-block 2.

The joint-block 2 may be constructed of any suitable material, preferably of wood on account of the inexpensive nature thereof and the lightness, which facilitates therapid handling thereof while the mason is at work. It is important in carrying out the invention that the wooden or other suitable joint-blocks ing-blocks.

In the preferred forms of the invention the joint-blocks,which are employed at the joints between adjacent ends of building-blocks, are provided with centering means, whereby the same may be centered quickly and with reasonable accuracy directly over the joints. Different centering meansmay necessarily be employed, and in the form of the invention shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4 the centering means consist in providing the joint-block 2, upon the periphery thereof and midway or at an intermediate point between the side faces thereof, with rigid projections 3 in the form of studs or pins, projecting a sufficient distance beyond the edge of the joint-block, so as to abut against the end of the buildingblock in which the joint-block is first inserted. In this form of the invention it is preferable that the centering means or rigid stop projections be omitted from one side edge of the block, which maybe termed the plain side edge 4, in order to facilitate the initial setting of the joint-block with reference to the building-block,w11ich has previously been placed in position.

The manner of using the form of jointblock already described is as follows: After one of the hollow building-blocks 1 has been laid in position on a wall the joint-block 2 is inserted facewise in the open end thereof until arrested by the centering means or stop projections 3, which therefore serve to hold the joint-block partly within and partly projectin g out of the previously-laid building-block.

In thus positioning the block 2 the-plain side edge thereof-isplaced down on a smallamount of mortar first put under the joint-block, and after the latter has been arranged as described mortar is placed on the peripheral edge of the joint-block, as well as against the end of the building-block in which it is partly inserted. Then another hollow buildingblock is placed on the wall and driven gently over the protruding side of the joint-block, thus prod ucinga solid and compact T-shaped mortar. joint enveloping the peripheral edge of the joint-block and interposed between the contiguous ends of the building-blocks. The manner of arranging the joint-block, as described, is plainly shown. in Fig. 2, and the T-joint is plainly shown inFig. 3.

Where a small space between two hollow buildingblocks is to be, closed up, for instance, by a short building-block B and two mortar joints, as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawin gs, the blockB necessarily has to be dropped downward into the space. Under such conditions the joint-block 2 is provided with modified centering meanssuch,for instance, as flexible pull connections or cords 5, fastimed to the periphery ofthe block in thesame positions as the projections 3 previously referred to, butsufficiently long, so as to be easily handled for centering the blocks. The joint-blocks 2 in the modification being described are also provided with plain side edges 4, and in using these blocks, prior to dropping the short building-block B in position, the joint-blocks having the flexible cen door or window frames F, such as are shown in Figs. 7 and 8 of the drawings, a joint-block 2 is nailed or otherwise fastened directly to said frame, so that the open end of the terminal building-blocks next to the frame will fit directly over the said joint-block and produce a joint in all substantial respects the same as already described.

7 Other modifications of the invention will necessarily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art, and it will be understood that various changes in the form, proportion and "minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, isl 1. The combination with a hollow buildingblock, of an interior joint-block adapted to span the joint at the end of the building-- width of the building-blocks to leave an intervening mortar-space entirely surrounding the periphery of the joint-block and extending the full width of the latter.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

AUGUSTUS M. FENNER.

Witnesses:

W. H. STOCKTON, J. D. BOWMAN. 

